Collapsible door vise



Feb. 14, 1961 H. L. HOUSE 2,971,548

COLLAPSIBLEJ DOOR VISE Filed Feb. 17, 1959 INVEN TOR.

ATTD RN EYS Unied Se 'Patent COLLAPSIBLE DOOR VISE Hugh L. House, Rte. 3, Rogersville, Tenn.

Filed Feb. 17, 1959, Ser. No. 793,876

2 Claims. (Cl. 144-296) This invention relates to tools particularly designed for use by carpenters, and in particular a vise that automatically grips the door as a door is placed therein and that includes braces normal to the door and that extend from opposite sides thereof whereby the braces support the door in an upright position to facilitate mortising recesses for hinge plates, locks, and the like, in the edges of the door.

The purpose of this invention is to provide a door vise which, in itself, is self supporting and which may readily be folded to facilitate transportation from one location to another.

Various types of clamps and other supporting elements have been provided for holding doors in upright positions, however, because of the size of a device required for supporting a heavy door folding the parts to nested position to facilitate carrying is diificult and, consequently, tools of this type are very seldom used.

The object of this invention is, therefore, to provide a door vise having braces extended upwardly a suflicient height for rigidly supporting a door in the tool in which the weight of the door forces gripping elements in contact with side surfaces thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a door vise for temporarily supporting a door in an upright position in which gripping elements of the vise are adjustable to compensate for doors of different thicknesses.

A further object of the invention is to provide a collapsible door vise that is positioned on the floor and that supports a door in an upright position to facilitate mortising edges thereof in which the vise is of a simple and economical construction.

With these and other objects and advantages in view the invention embodies a tool having an elongated spring steel bar with supporting legs pivotally mounted on the ends and having door gripping jaws slidably mounted on the spring steel bar and supported by braces and springs whereby a door is rigidly retained in an upright position.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational View of the collapsible door vise with the parts shown in a free position in full lines and in an operative position in dotted lines wherein the weight of a door, also as indicated by broken lines moves the spring steel bar of the device downwardly and the gripping jaws inwardly against opposite surfaces of the door.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the collapsible door vise with parts of one of the braces broken away to show one of the springs for urging the gripping jaws outwardly.

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the improved collapsible door vise showingthe parts in folded position, and with sections of some of the parts broken away.

Figure 4 is a cross section through the vise taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2 illustrating the relative position of the mounting channels, braces, and supporting legs.

2,911,548 Patented Feb. 14, 1961 Figure 5 is a view showing a notched bar which is provided on outer surfaces of the gripping jaws for connecting the springs to the jaws and for temporarily connecting the braces to upper ends of the jaws.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts the improved collapsible door vise of this invention includes a bar 10, preferably of spring steel, channel bars 11 and 12 slidably mounted on the bar 10, gripping jaws 13 and 14 pivotally mounted by pins 15 and 16 on inner ends of the channel bars 11 and 12, braces 17 and 18 pivotally mounted by pins 19 and 20 on outer ends of the channel bars 11 and 12 and transversely disposed legs 21 and 22 pivotally mounted by bolts 23 and 24 on theends of the spring bar 10 and resiliently held in shoes 25 and 26 by springs 27. v

The spring steel bar 10 is provided with elongated slots 29 and 30 which are spaced from the center and through which bolts 31 and 32 with thumb nuts 33 thereon, are positioned and outer slots 34 and 35 through which rivets 36 and 37 mounted in the backs 38 of the channel bars 11 and 12, are positioned. The bolts 31 and 32 are also mounted in the backs 38 of the channel bars and these bolts in combination with the rivets 36 and 37 provide means for adjusting the channel bars 11 and 12 and the jaws 13 and 14 longitudinally of the spring bar 10. With the parts mounted in this manner the thumb nuts 33 are loosened to permit the channel bars 11 and 12 to slide longitudinally of the bar 10 to adjust the jaws 13 and 14 to gripping positions of doors, as indicated by the dotted lines 39, of different thicknesses.

The jaws 13 and 14, which are also channel-shaped in cross section, and which are provided with gripping pads 40 and 41, are mounted to swing downwardly to the position shown in Figure 3 when the vise is not in use. The jaws are urged outwardly against the braces 17 and 18 by springs 28, the lower ends of which are retained on fingers 42, struck from the backs of the channel bars 11 and 12 and extended upwardly, as shown in Figure 1. Upper ends of the springs are secured in openings 43 in lower ends of angle bars 44 positioned on outer surfaces of the jaws 13 and 14, as shown in Figure 5. Upper ends of the angle bars 44 are provided with notches 45 in which pins 46 in the upper ends of the braces 17 and 18 are positioned with the parts of the vise set up for use, as shown in Figure 1. Outer ends of the braces 17 and 18 are provided with cars 47 and 48 through which the pins 19 and 20, which are mounted in projections 49 and 50 on the ends of the channel bars 11 and 12 extend.

The legs 21 and 22, the ends of which are provided with caps 51, of resilient material, are carried on the lower ends of the bolts 23 and 24 and are urged upwardly into the arcuate shoes 25 and 26 by the springs 27. The springs 27 are positioned to bear upon the upper surface of the spring bar 10 and are retained in position by thumb nuts 52 below which are washers 53 against which upper ends of the springs 27 bear.

By this means a collapsible door vise is provided in which the parts are readily folded to nested position for carrying from one location to another or for storing and wherein the parts are readily set up for use in supporting and gripping a door or the like so that a door may readily be held in position as recesses, openings, and the like are formed in edges thereof.

As illustrated in Figure 1 the gripping jaws 13 and 14 swing outwardly forming angles less than right angles with the spring bar 10 and the weight of a door positioned between the jaws urges the jaws inwardly into positions parallel with the surface of a door and into gripping relation with the door.

It will be understood that modifications, within the scope of the appended claims, may be made in the design and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I What is claimed is: r 1 r '1.'A door vise comprising a spring bar, transversely disposed supporting legs depending from the ends of the spring bar, a pair of oppositely extending channel bars mounted for sliding adjustment on said spring bar spaced vertically disposed gripping jaws pivotally mounted on the opposed ends of said channel bars and positioned tofold to nested positions on said channel bars, the angles between the vertically disposed gripping jaws and the spring bar being less than right angles, braces pivotally mounted on the outer ends of the channel bars and temporarily connected to the extended ends of the jaws, fingers on said channel bars centrally thereof, resilient for urging the legs into the arcuate shoes, channel bars slidably mounted on the spring bar, bolts in the channel bars and extended through the slots of the spring bar for adjusting positions of the channel bars on the spring bar, gripping jaws pivotally'mounted at the inner ends of the channel bars and extended upwardly therefrom, the angles between the vertically disposed gripping jaws and the spring bar being less than right angles whereby upon downward movement of the spring bar resulting from the weight of a door thereon the gripping jaws assume parallel positions gripping the side surface of a door positioned therehetween, braces pivotally mounted in the outer ends of the channel barsand extended for means extended from thefingers on the channel bars and connected to the jaws for urging the jaws outwardly and against the braces, and means for adjusting the channel bars to vary the positions of the jaws and braces, on the spring bar.

2. In a material holding vise, the combination which comprises an elongated spring bar, said bar having elongated slots therein and having transversely disposed arcuate shoes depending from the under surface, legs having bolts extended therefrom positioned in openings in the ends of the spring bar, springs positioned around the bolts, thumb nuts and washers on the upper ends of the I bolts and positioned against the upper ends of the springs latching engagement with the upper ends of the jaws, and springs interconnecting the channel bars and the upper ends of the jaws for urging the jaws into engagement with the upper ends of the braces.

References Cited in the file of this patent Soete Jan. 26, 

